http://www.idahostatesman.com/276/story/355285.html
Let's get rocked! Def Leppard in town next week
By Michael Deeds - mdeeds@idahostatesman.com
Edition Date: 04/18/08
On Tuesday night, just under 10,000 fans will storm through the Idaho Center
doors for a concert headlined by a hair band that hasn't put out a song anyone
remembers since 1992.
Def Leppard - accompanied by county fair staples Styx and REO Speedwagon - is
going to sell out. There are, like, 200 tickets left.
No f-f-f-foolin'.
So why the hysteria surrounding a middle-aged British pop-metal act rocking
Nampa?
It's a shocking, if not fascinating, question.
Some personal history: Months ago, Idaho Center general manager Craig Baltzer
asked me how well I thought a Def Leppard concert might do.
I made a noise resembling a scoffing wookie and tossed out a number. Maybe
5,000?
This week, Baltzer sent me an e-mail that politely reminded me how wrong I was.
"I am now convinced that we have no idea of what Def is capable of," Baltzer
wrote. "Maybe I should book them again next year with Cheap Trick, or Loverboy,
or Rick Springfield, or April Wine or 38 Special. No end where this could go."
That's absolutely stunning.
It just makes no sense at first.
Def Leppard just played the Idaho Center in 2006 with Journey. Just over 7,000
fans ponied up to $75 per ticket, which is also the top price for Tuesday's
concert. Prior to that, in 2003, Def Leppard played for a top ticket price of
$45 at the smaller, 5,000-capacity Bank of America Centre in Boise.
So why, in 2008, has Def Leppard suddenly been able to double its crowd size
from then? And hike its ticket price?
Has everyone suddenly started huffing Aqua Net?
Possibly. But something else is happening here. Bret Michaels of Poison has the
most-watched reality show on VH-1. The original Motley Crue lineup has reunited
for a multi-band "Crue Fest" summer tour and album. Hair bands ranging from
Whitesnake on down to White Lion are releasing new CDs this spring.
Is an aging, nostalgic Generation X audience replacing the baby boomer crowd?
Is a Def Leppard tour becoming like ... the new Eagles tour or something?
Dave Sparks, program director for classic-rock station J-105, hears Def Leppard
played every day "with frequency" on his FM airwaves. Sparks remembers seeing
Def Leppard fill maybe 2,000 feats in a Sacramento arena. "They tanked," he
says. That was in the mid-'90s, right after grunge slayed all the hair bands.
Now, for reasons perhaps too complex for mortals to understand, Def Leppard is
back in a huge way.
"These bands," Sparks says, "they are kind of an established part of history
now. It doesn't matter that they're not cool. It just doesn't matter, man. It
doesn't matter because their audience doesn't care. The core audience isn't
about trying to be hip and isn't about wanting to be about the times."
Ostensibly, most fans headed to Tuesday's concert will be in their 30s and 40s.
They will want to remember - if not, in some cases, relive - the days of
partying to Def Leppard music as beer-drinking youths gone wild. On rural
roads. At house parties. With mullets.
Some of these fans have Time Capsulitis. This is precisely why classic-rock
stations like J-105 are in business: After growing up, getting married and
having kids, many people just stop discovering new music. (Or they realize that
much new music is incredibly bad.) A few fans at Def Leppard may be stricken
with Uncle Rico Syndrome, a condition illustrated in the movie "Napoleon
Dynamite." These folks may attend this concert hoping to "cash in" where they
couldn't before. Sparks illustrates: "'Man, I wish it was 1981 again,'" he
says, imitating Uncle Rico. "'Man, I could throw a football over a quarter
mile.'"
But for the vast majority of concertgoers, the reason is probably more simple.
"It's just fun!" Sparks explains. "People remember this kind of music because
it was just straight-up party fun. Rockin', boobies and beer! There was nothing
thought-provoking about it."
So there you have it. Quite possibly, a Def Leppard concert is a unique paradox
- pure genius requiring zero brain strain. After all, there are few things more
intoxicating than a blend of nostalgia, escapism and fun, especially when
served with six or seven Bud Lights.
Michael Deeds: 377-6407
(c) IdahoStatesman.com